Okay, so I've been thinking about this a lot the past couple days. There are some transitions happening in my life - all of which are good - but I think it's only natural to look at things and consider them during such a time. Of course it could be me and none of the rest of you ever experience this. At any rate I've been doing a lot of thinking about the church. I don't mean one particular church - I mean THE church.
I grew up in the church. I'm not quite the kid that Matt Chandler (pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, TX, who I listen to a lot and respect as a very solid Bible teacher) describes as being literally birthed in the sanctuary. But I'll admit it's a really close description. My life has always included Jesus. I don't have some amazing conversion story where I was strung out and Jesus spoke to me through it and saved me. He was just always there and I always knew He was for real. I recall having dreams and stuff about heaven and being with Jesus when I was a little kid. Jesus + my life = normal.
There has also never been a time, save for a few years as a young adult, that I wasn't actively involved in a church. I've been part of the Lutheran, Southern Baptist, and Calvary Chapel (yes, they are a denomination that calls themselves non-denominational - we can argue about that later) denominations. I've also served in a ministry or leadership capacity for just about as long as I can remember - I taught for my first time when I was 8 - in my dad's church in the children's ministry. We talked about the story of Joseph and I used a flannel graph, which was high technology back then. I've seen vocational ministry from the inside and it's not always real pretty.
And here is why I wanted to write this note. I grew up in the evangelical climate of the 80s and 90s. And I am a Christ follower. I have never not been a Christ follower, despite the fact that I went through a major period of rebellion in my teens.
I lived in the Christian bubble life that Reformed pastors now rail against. I've struggled heavily with my upbringing from a spiritual perspective. In the past I was being crushed by the burdens of legalism which caused tons of problems for me spiritually and emotionally. I saw first-hand people reject God because of the actions of their church (and other Christians). I participated in tape/CD burning parties (and then went out and bought the same music again a few months later). I went to all manner of Christian concerts (and youth of today you need to understand how awesome you have it - the 80s and 90s were just about 100% lame musically). I was utterly dying under the weight of rules I attempted to make myself follow, not understanding the gospel in any sort of life-giving way.
But I was saved. In that nonsense somehow I heard the gospel and God did a number on my heart - He reached in and saved me. And I'm not the only one. There are lots of us who are a product of the evangelical climate of that time who are now parents, husbands, wives, preachers - and we are all believers. Does this mean we shouldn't zealously contend for the gospel and relentlessly talk about God's grace? Absolutely not. Does this mean that we should gloss over some of the serioulsy ridiculous, harmful, and dorky that characterizes those times? No, not all. What I'm saying is that we need to be very, very careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. It is VERY tempting to become prideful in what we think is better and do the "us-against-them" number.
The real take away, in my opinion, is that we should not vilify an entire decade (or two). Nor should we gloss over the very real concerns and oddities. What we absolutely have to do is hold fast to the gospel. I've seen people who grew up in that era who have now swung into license - doing things purely for shock value in their churches because they "can." As I recall, the Apostle Paul made mention that everything is permissable but not everything is beneficial. That is something that we can't lose sight of as we press forward in our freedom.
There were for sure issues in evangelicalism back in the day. There are issues now. The only hope we have for our kids who are now growing up evangelical is to hold fast to the gospel. To teach them that we have a desperate need for a Savior no matter how well we can make ourselves behave externally. To teach them who we are in Christ. To acknowledge the weirdness of the past and present that doesn't line up with scripture. And above all to know that God will make up for the stupid things we'll unknowingly do because we're sinners and He is gracious and He is calling people to Himself.
So, please feel free to laugh at evangelicalism from two decades ago and by all means work through any issues the weirdness may have caused. Look at it all in truth for sure. But don't vilify it - people met Jesus in it. That is proof positive that He can do whatever He wants by any means He chooses. There are problems now; no church or denomination is perfect - don't forget that the church is made up of people - and I'm sure the Bible teaches that we are all pretty much a hot mess in need of a Savior. No matter what decade you happen to have been born into.
Anyway these are just things on my mind as I've looked back on almost 36 years in the church.
I grew up in the church. I'm not quite the kid that Matt Chandler (pastor of The Village Church in Dallas, TX, who I listen to a lot and respect as a very solid Bible teacher) describes as being literally birthed in the sanctuary. But I'll admit it's a really close description. My life has always included Jesus. I don't have some amazing conversion story where I was strung out and Jesus spoke to me through it and saved me. He was just always there and I always knew He was for real. I recall having dreams and stuff about heaven and being with Jesus when I was a little kid. Jesus + my life = normal.
There has also never been a time, save for a few years as a young adult, that I wasn't actively involved in a church. I've been part of the Lutheran, Southern Baptist, and Calvary Chapel (yes, they are a denomination that calls themselves non-denominational - we can argue about that later) denominations. I've also served in a ministry or leadership capacity for just about as long as I can remember - I taught for my first time when I was 8 - in my dad's church in the children's ministry. We talked about the story of Joseph and I used a flannel graph, which was high technology back then. I've seen vocational ministry from the inside and it's not always real pretty.
And here is why I wanted to write this note. I grew up in the evangelical climate of the 80s and 90s. And I am a Christ follower. I have never not been a Christ follower, despite the fact that I went through a major period of rebellion in my teens.
I lived in the Christian bubble life that Reformed pastors now rail against. I've struggled heavily with my upbringing from a spiritual perspective. In the past I was being crushed by the burdens of legalism which caused tons of problems for me spiritually and emotionally. I saw first-hand people reject God because of the actions of their church (and other Christians). I participated in tape/CD burning parties (and then went out and bought the same music again a few months later). I went to all manner of Christian concerts (and youth of today you need to understand how awesome you have it - the 80s and 90s were just about 100% lame musically). I was utterly dying under the weight of rules I attempted to make myself follow, not understanding the gospel in any sort of life-giving way.
But I was saved. In that nonsense somehow I heard the gospel and God did a number on my heart - He reached in and saved me. And I'm not the only one. There are lots of us who are a product of the evangelical climate of that time who are now parents, husbands, wives, preachers - and we are all believers. Does this mean we shouldn't zealously contend for the gospel and relentlessly talk about God's grace? Absolutely not. Does this mean that we should gloss over some of the serioulsy ridiculous, harmful, and dorky that characterizes those times? No, not all. What I'm saying is that we need to be very, very careful not to throw the baby out with the bath water. It is VERY tempting to become prideful in what we think is better and do the "us-against-them" number.
The real take away, in my opinion, is that we should not vilify an entire decade (or two). Nor should we gloss over the very real concerns and oddities. What we absolutely have to do is hold fast to the gospel. I've seen people who grew up in that era who have now swung into license - doing things purely for shock value in their churches because they "can." As I recall, the Apostle Paul made mention that everything is permissable but not everything is beneficial. That is something that we can't lose sight of as we press forward in our freedom.
There were for sure issues in evangelicalism back in the day. There are issues now. The only hope we have for our kids who are now growing up evangelical is to hold fast to the gospel. To teach them that we have a desperate need for a Savior no matter how well we can make ourselves behave externally. To teach them who we are in Christ. To acknowledge the weirdness of the past and present that doesn't line up with scripture. And above all to know that God will make up for the stupid things we'll unknowingly do because we're sinners and He is gracious and He is calling people to Himself.
So, please feel free to laugh at evangelicalism from two decades ago and by all means work through any issues the weirdness may have caused. Look at it all in truth for sure. But don't vilify it - people met Jesus in it. That is proof positive that He can do whatever He wants by any means He chooses. There are problems now; no church or denomination is perfect - don't forget that the church is made up of people - and I'm sure the Bible teaches that we are all pretty much a hot mess in need of a Savior. No matter what decade you happen to have been born into.
Anyway these are just things on my mind as I've looked back on almost 36 years in the church.
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